great opportunity to start anew

The IDR is the greatest opportunity for Malaysia and Singapore to start on a new phase of cooperation. The Malaysian High Commissioner did not miss this out and is calling for more effort towards a hassle free transit in and out of JB. He is pushing for a new Causeway card that will make transiting a breeze. But there are many other things that need to be ironed out, especially the controversial and ambiguous rulings which the police, immigration and customs are famous for. Tinted glasses for cars, red plated off peak cars, no chopping of passports, checks and harassments for no rhymes or reasons, spot checks, stopping by traffic police etc etc. These are the irritants that make live very miserable and uncertain for visitors to JB and Malaysia. Maybe the High Commissioner could come out with a list to clarify all these things in a booklet form for Singaporeans to carry along to show to the law enforcing officers that they have crossed the line. If it will help. It may not as they could throw whatever booklet away and insist that one follows them to the police station and spend another few days in Malaysian against one's will.

best quote from swee say

The most convincing quote from Swee Say. Payrise for Ministers will benefit the people.

mindboggling pension scheme

The pension scheme is an accepted practice in the govt service introduced by the British. Now this scheme is also extended to politicians, people who are elected by the people on a 5 year term basis. And it is not even an employment. Then all one needs to be entitled to the lifelong pension is to be in office for two terms or a max of 10 years. Invariably it is lesser, between 8 to 9 years. Compare this to the original concept of pension when a person has to work practically all his life, 25 to 35 years before he is entitled to it and may lose it along the way if he fumbles. And the number is mindboggling. A person can be in office for 10 years and will be paid around $.5 to $1 million for the rest of his life. If he lives for another 25 years, the state could have to pay him $12.5 mil to $25 mil. Not sure if he is still entitled to all the medical perks. I am not saying that the scheme is right or wrong, good or bad. It is just mindboggling.

to inform or to expose?

Loh Chee Kong was thinking aloud on the role of journalists after Vivian said that one of the media's role is to expose Govt's wrongdoings. This is a major shift, if for real, in the role of the media. But Chee Kong was sensible enough to ask whether it is just a red herring. And everyone in the media too did not think it wise or worth more reading into it. It was spoken and forgotten. Silence follows on this issue. The role of the media is simply to inform, educate and entertain. I will just stick to this sacred formula to be safe.

what is enough?

What is enough? $290 a month is enough. $1 million a year is not enough. Depending on who you are and how one tries to justify one's position, it is all relative. $5 million or $10 million is also not enough given the present formula. What if the top eight performers of each group worked exceptionally hard, did exceptionally well, and luck was all on their side, and they made $10 or $20 million each, the formula would say $2 mil is not enough and not because of the effort or the spectacular performance of the people expecting the windfall. Performance is not really in the formula. One gets, all gets, big portfolio, no portfolio, great performance or mediocre performance, no difference. As the ministers are going around persuading the people to accept their payrise, and as Swee Say said, 'Progressively, more and more union leaders and workers will come to accept and realise that it's actually in (their) interest to ensure that the Govt will do whatever is necessary to attract a fair share of the talent.' Since it is in the interest of the people, there is no reason why they should not be a payrise. An easier approach would be to name how much is enough and get it over with. Trying to apply a formula that many do not agree only make things more incomprehensible. Perhaps during a GE the party shall let the electorate know that for the elected term the ministers shall be paid so much and no one need to be apologetic about it later. 'What we need are political leaders and civil servants who really care a lot about the ground, who understand their anxiety, who understand their aspirations, to take the necessary measure to help them realise their aspirations.' Swee Say said. I believe the people all have a simple aspiration and share the same anxiety. While the ministers are going to have their big big payrise, the people will be very happy, and their anxiety removed, and their aspirations taken care of, if everyone is given a $10k handout. This is the simple aspirations of the people, or at least what I think it is.